


i'll protect you

by andromedagalaxy



Series: Philkas College Verse [35]
Category: Eyewitness (US TV)
Genre: M/M, Two Friendly Original Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-04 22:09:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11564316
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andromedagalaxy/pseuds/andromedagalaxy
Summary: “You’re ridiculous,” Lukas says, kissing his cheek before he straightens back up. “I love you. Iloveyou. I love you so much I’m going into this crazy-ass haunted house because you want to.”“You don’t want to?” Philip asks.“I want to because you want to,” Lukas says.Philip smiles slowly. “You’re scared.”“I’m not scared,” Lukas says, pointedly looking away from him.“You’re scared,” Philip sing-songs, straightening up a little taller so he can rest his chin on Lukas’s shoulder as they continue forward. “Don’t worry, babe, I’ll protect you.”





	i'll protect you

The line they’re in wraps around the building and winds down the street, full of monsters and ghouls and a whole lot of superheroes. There are kids here that Philip thinks probably shouldn’t be, and he thinks he sees his Social History of Photography teacher dressed like a giant frog with his wife and child in tow. 

Lukas shifts anxiously at Philip’s side.

Philip takes his hand and Lukas smiles softly down at him. They’re both dressed like cowboys and Philip is trying to focus on everything else but how hot he thinks Lukas looks. They got their costumes entirely from Good Will and Lukas is actually wearing chaps, which Philip already plans on asking him to keep on later on tonight when they close their bedroom door. Philip tips his hat back on his head and they step forward a little bit as the line moves.

“You think Izzy is having fun with her cousins?” Lukas asks, his voice wavering a little bit.

Philip laughs. “I’m sure she’s still hoarding that hot dog toy because she’s bad at sharing.”

Lukas scoffs. “As if they don’t have an entire basket of toys at home because Angela gets them that monthly dog box thing.”

“We need to do that for Izzy,” Philip thinks, imagining it.

There’s a shriek and Lukas jumps, eyes finding the haunted house in front of them. He looks worried and Philip clicks his tongue. 

“Kinda sucks Jen and Evan couldn’t come,” Philip says, trying to distract him.

“I like her but Jen is way, way too wrapped up in her work,” Lukas says. 

Lukas met them in his Advertising Management class, and he didn’t realize they were a couple until about two weeks into term. They’ve both also been wondering if they’re in the right major, and Philip hadn’t seen Lukas so positive he was doing the right thing until he met them. They assured him using marketing and communications knowledge would help him market himself in his motocross career, and put him ahead of the pack with other riders who didn’t have that knowledge. Surprisingly, Evan drives a dirtbike too, and Jen plans on managing him when he gets into the circuits. Which gave Philip some ideas he’s yet to voice. 

“What do you mean?” Philip asks.

“She’s got some English essay that’s due in a couple weeks but she said she got into it and couldn’t leave,” Lukas says. “Evan had costumes for them and everything. Now they’re just answering the door and handing out candy. Evan felt really bad, but Jen gets into this zone and she like, can’t get out of it.”

They’ve hung out with them a couple times so far and Philip likes them, but he knows Lukas would like to hang out with them more often. Jen is definitely more focused on school than they are, and they’re pretty damn focused on it. 

Philip bumps into Lukas’s hip. “You tired of just me?” he asks, pouting a little bit.

Lukas scoffs a bit, looking scandalized. He tips his hat back and leans in, smashing their mouths together hard, like he always does when he’s trying to make a point. Philip hums a little bit and they take a step forward, still kissing.

“You’re ridiculous,” Lukas says, kissing his cheek before he straightens back up. “I love you. I _love_ you. I love you so much I’m going into this crazy-ass haunted house because you want to.”

“You don’t want to?” Philip asks.

“I want to because you want to,” Lukas says.

Philip smiles slowly. “You’re scared.”

“I’m not scared,” Lukas says, pointedly looking away from him. 

“You’re scared,” Philip sing-songs, straightening up a little taller so he can rest his chin on Lukas’s shoulder as they continue forward. “Don’t worry, babe, I’ll protect you.”

“Nope, I’m gonna protect you,” Lukas says, reaching down and wrapping a secure arm around Philip’s waist. “From the wolfman, from fuckin—ghosts and whatever, whether I shit my pants or not, I’m protecting you.”

Philip snorts, turning into Lukas’s chest. “So romantic.”

~

It takes another twenty minutes before they’re scaling the squeaking stairs and Philip holds onto Lukas and hopes it curbs his fear a little bit. A tall man that looks like Frankenstein’s monster lets them into the lobby in groups of four—they’re paired with two girls, who are also holding hands.

“Oh thank god,” the redhead says, looking them up and down and immediately getting closer. “Another set of gays.”

Lukas snorts and he towers above the two of them, they’re so short.

“I’m Philip and he’s Lukas,” Philip says, nodding in their direction.

“I’m Diana, she’s Zoe,” the other girl says. She has dark hair and she’s dressed in a NASA uniform, and Zoe is dressed up like an alien. “We’re here on a dare—if we make it out we get fifty bucks each.”

“Really?” Philip exclaims. 

“If you make it out?” Lukas asks, his eyes wide. “What the hell’s that mean?”

Zoe shrugs, getting closer to her girlfriend. “My sister puked in here last year and had to stop and get her husband to come in and rescue her.”

“Her husband should have been with her in the first place!” Lukas says, holding Philip tighter.

“That’s what I said,” Diana says. “Fifty bucks each. We really need it.”

“Well, this one thought it’d be fun,” Lukas says, looking down at Philip. He looks around and a shudder goes through him. Philip follows his gaze—the walls look like they’re bleeding, moldy and gross. It kinda seems like it’s supposed to be an old disgusting insane asylum, from the signage and the strange front desk. And Philip doesn’t feel scared, probably because Lukas is holding him so close. 

“Maybe he should go in front,” Zoe says, widening her eyes and pointing at Philip.

“No way,” Lukas says. He sets his jaw, trying to look strong. “I guess—I guess I’m going in front.”

“Babe, I can go in front,” Philip says.

“No,” Lukas says. “No way.”

Philip gazes up at him, shaking his head.

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Zoe says. “Diana, why don’t you—”

“No way, honey bunch, you’re going in front of me,” Diana says. “I’m gonna have my eyes closed the whole damn way.”

Lukas presses the bridge of his nose against Philip’s temple. “I’ve got you,” he whispers.

Philip’s heart does a little summersault. He’s torn because he doesn’t want Lukas to be scared but he’s also really, really into the whole gallant white knight thing. He just nods, smiling softly.

The door in front of them slowly opens, whining like they’re in a horror movie. 

“Oh Jesus Christ,” both Lukas and Diana say at the same time. 

Philip tries not to snort, sharing a brief look with a horrified Zoe. He’s glad they’re not going through this alone. He looks back behind Zoe and sees that the wall is closing in on them. Literally moving closer to exactly where they are. He stares at it for a moment to make sure it’s actually happening. 

“Uh,” Philip says, tugging on Lukas’s sleeve.

“Oh fuck,” Lukas says, and he immediately ushers Philip behind him.

“Great, we got the goddamn Star Wars compactor scene happening here,” Diana says, reaching for Zoe’s hand and backing away from the moving wall.

“Come on, we gotta go through the door,” Lukas sighs. He starts forward and he reaches one arm back, wrapping it around Philip’s hip. 

“I’m so sorry but I’m putting my hands on your shoulders,” Zoe says, close behind Philip.

“Yeah, we’re making a train,” Diana yells. 

“It’s okay,” Philip snorts. “We’re obviously gonna stick together.”

“She’s gonna—fuck!” Zoe yells, and they all jump because the door slams closed behind them.

“Can you open it?” Lukas asks, his voice shaking. 

Philip snorts. “What, you wanna go back out?”

Lukas narrows his eyes. “Of course I wanna go back out.”

Diana tugs on the knob over and over but it doesn’t do any good. “Nope,” she says. “We’re about to face certain death.”

The hallway is dark and Philip can hardly see in front of him, only the outline of Lukas’s hat and the shine of his suspenders. Lukas squares off, swallowing hard. “Okay, okay, let’s just—go as fast as we can, come on.”

“You gonna barrel forward?” Philip asks, laughing a little bit.

“Babycakes, I’m gonna need you to stop laughing,” Lukas says, patting him on the hip.

“You told your mom we want a joint funeral, right?” Zoe asks. 

Philip laughs again, turning around and grinning at her. “C’mon, guys, we’re gonna be—”

There’s a loud, high pitched, other-worldly howl behind them and it definitely isn’t either one of the girls, Philip doesn’t care if they just met, he knows that for a fucking fact. All four of them start screaming too, like that’s gonna do any good, and when Lukas takes off he holds onto Philip with a vice grip.

“We can’t run!” Diana yells, though all four of them are fucking running. “We’re gonna—”

But Lukas is suddenly skidding to a stop and pushing Philip even further behind him. “Oh shit, shit, shit—”

Philip feels like he has a monkey on his back because Zoe is absolutely clinging to him, but he can’t blame her because he’s doing the exact same thing to Lukas, his arms wrapped around his middle. It’s so dark, but he can fucking see that there’s a large, imposing bald man in front of them. With an axe buried into the middle of his skull. 

“Okay, dude, just—go find a hospital, you’ll be fine—” Lukas says, trying to inch around him.

Philip follows, spluttering and burying his face in Lukas’s shoulder. They only have a sliver of space to work with to get around the guy and they have to press against the wall to keep going. As Philip passes Lukas throws his arm out in front of him, like that’s gonna do anything if the guy decides to attack. 

“Don’t look at him, please,” Lukas says, his voice still shaking. “Just, yeah, don’t look at—my—my Philip—”

Philip laughs again, feeling Zoe reach down and take his hand.

“Don’t make eye contact, Di!” Zoe yells, speeding up and watching the guy zone in on her girlfriend. “If you make eye contact he won’t leave you alone.”

“Great, Jesus—fuck—thanks—”

Lukas wraps his arm around Philip again and they hear Diana squeal as they rush past. “Baby, stay close to me please—” Lukas says, groaning a little bit, and not in the good way that Philip is used to.

“You’re being so polite tonight, Lukas,” Philip says, plastering himself against Lukas’s back, tugging Zoe along behind him. 

“I’m gonna kill you later,” Lukas growls, shooting him a look. “Crazy cute—weirdo—”

Philip chuckles, but the sound dies as soon as they turn the corner and get out of the hallway. 

“Goddamnit, fuck—why—” Lukas moans.

There’s one buzzing lightbulb hanging from the ceiling and it’s doing its best job to barely light up one single solitary chair in the middle of the room. 

“Shit, Lukas, be careful!” Diana yells.

Lukas leaps like he’s been electrocuted and Philip’s breath catches in his throat when he sees what she saw—a woman, all in white, standing right next to Lukas and facing the wall. Lukas nearly topples over but his main intention seems to be to put his entire body in front of Philip, and even though Philip’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest when he saw her, he’s trying not to get turned on by how much Lukas needs to protect him. 

“Zoe, she looks like that crazy-ass roommate you had freshman year!” Diana shrieks from somewhere behind them.

“Honey don’t make this worse than it already is!”

Philip tries not to laugh again. He’s having the best time. 

Lukas looks up and Philip follows his gaze, watching the dirty lightbulb. “That thing is swinging all on its own, Philip,” Lukas says, sounding resigned. “It’s swinging all on its own.”

“Just—just angle around her,” Philip says. “Just—just weave—”

“Is that the only way out?” Diana asks. “That black hole right next to her?” 

All four of them look around manically, searching for another exit, and just as they’re turning to look at their only way out the woman in white rushes them, screaming her guts out. All of them start yelling again too, Lukas’s shrieks coming out in little short, harried bursts. He nearly picks Philip up off the ground as he makes for the exit, and Philip can hear the girls tumbling over each other because Philip’s hand is ripped away from Zoe’s.

“Don’t leave us!” she yells. “We have a dog at home, we can’t die!”

“We have a dog too!” Lukas screams, weaving through the door and into another hallway. This one is really close quarters and Philip is hurled forward into Lukas’s back when both girls run into him.

“Sorry, sorry!” Diana yells. “Got a little—overzealous—what kind of dog do you have?”

“Australian shepherd puppy,” Philip answers, because he knows Lukas is too concerned with taking tiny baby steps forward. Lukas’s arm that isn’t wrapped around Philip is stretched out in front of him, waving frantically in the darkness. “What about you?” Philip asks. 

“We’ve got a Golden,” Zoe says. “Her name is Ginger, she loves treats and—”

“I’m glad you guys are just like—having a conversation,” Lukas says. “Just, talking about dogs as I’m just sacrificing myself here—”

“Sorry, sorry, right,” Zoe says. “Task at hand.”

“You’re our fearless leader,” Philip says, running his hand up and down Lukas’s side.

Lukas sighs and doesn’t answer, taking the next turn. Philip looks around—they’re in the middle of what looks like a set of prison cells, and the ceiling is a lot higher than it was in the hallway. Everything is rusty and old looking, like the walls would hurt their hands if they tried to touch them. There’s sinister-sounding laughter reverberating off the walls and Lukas sighs again.

“This room is too big,” he says, shaking his head. “I feel like—I feel unsafe.”

“Let’s just—let’s just run,” Diana says. 

“You were the one saying not to run earlier, dummy,” Zoe says. 

“Just go,” Philip says, close to Lukas’s ear. “Just—straight shot. Straight ahead, I think that’s the way out right there.” He points to a door at the end of the room, beside a big crate that looks like there’s blood seeping out of it. He feels like Lukas isn’t gonna move any time soon and Philip leans in, pressing a kiss to the back of Lukas’s neck. “C’mon, babe.”

Lukas sighs for the third time in five minutes and starts walking, but as soon as he takes his first step all of the cell doors slide open. And before they know it a fucking hoard of zombies are shuffling out, heading toward them.

“Oh shit,” Lukas says, his head whipping around. 

Diana echoes his sentiments, hissing another string of curse words.

“I don’t like this show,” Zoe mutters. “I hate this show, I hate the way they sound.”

The zombies slowly come towards them and they look disgusting, jaws hanging off their hinges, eyeballs gouged out, arms half in sockets. Their clothes are ragged and hang off their broken bodies.

“Let’s go,” Lukas says. “You’re too cute to be in here, Philip, I’m like, almost offended to see all this disgusting shit this close to you—”

Philip lets him tug him towards the exit and he never thought he would get so turned on in the middle of a haunted house. But when they’re two feet away from the exit the bloody crate flips open, revealing a mass of limbs and a head that’s still alive, drooling and gasping and gaping at them. Lukas shrieks, cursing, and Philip dissolves into hysterics again. 

“Baby, you—Philip, dammit—”

“I hope we’re almost to the end,” Diana says, as they enter the next hallway. “My heart can’t take much more of this.”

“Remember we have brownies and OnDemand at home,” Zoe says, close to Philip. 

“I think something just touched me,” Diana says, her voice high.

“Shit!” Lukas says, jumping. “Something just—Jesus!”

Philip feels it too and it’s he can’t tell what it is, a vine or a hand or something reaching out from the walls and brushing his arm. It sends shivers up his spine and he doesn’t know why but this is the scariest part of the house so far. He presses up against Lukas, holding onto him. “Go faster,” he mutters, his heart raging in his chest. Something touches him again and Philip cringes away from it. “Faster, Lukas.”

“Shit, shit—”

“Oh my God,” Diana exclaims. 

“OnDemand and brownies at home!” Zoe repeats.

Then the hands build and they’re everywhere, hundreds of them, reaching out and touching, brushing against shoulders and heads and hips, dragging through Philip’s hair underneath the brim of his hat.

“There are breasts here!” Diana yells. “No touching of the breasts!”

Philip tries not to laugh. “Run, Lukas,” he says, urging him along. “Go, go—”

“Don’t have to tell me,” Lukas mutters, picking up the pace, still holding onto Philip. The hands reach out farther and Philip can’t tell if they’re real, they feel rubbery but it’s gross, like they’re coated in something sticky. They all run and the hands seem to extend out farther and farther as they go, worse and worse until all four of them are batting them out of the way.

“Kick the door down if you have to!” Diana yells.

But Lukas doesn’t have to, because it falls open as soon as he’s about to touch it. They nearly topple down again but they right themselves fast.

They’re in a graveyard. 

It’s huge and Philip can’t even tell if they’re inside anymore. The sky looks kinda fake, but good enough that it’s fooling him.

“How the hell did they hide this shit?” Zoe asks. “Are we still in the building? What the hell?”

“It’s so quiet,” Lukas says. “Too quiet. Untrustworthy quiet.” He tightens his hold around Philip’s waist, and the way he’s reaching back looks uncomfortable. But he doesn’t falter.

“I think it’s almost over,” Philip says, rubbing Lukas’s arm up and down. He doesn’t even hear crickets. He does hear Diana and Zoe whispering harshly to each other, something about puking, and Philip tries not to look at the names on the graves. The grass feels weird and fake under his boots. “You think this is the end?” he asks, feeling a little dizzy.

“Somehow, I doubt it,” Lukas says. He twists his neck around, looking every which way. They walk up close to a brick wall and turn the corner, seeing another long expanse of graves. Philip’s stomach starts turning a little bit and he squeezes his eyes shut tight. His mind wanders to places he doesn’t want to remember. A small funeral, Gabe’s hand on his shoulder, Helen trying not to cry. Lukas so close, strong and stalwart. His mom’s body being lowered into the ground.

He feels like he’s being stupid. He was having such a good time. They couldn’t have gotten paired with a better couple. Lukas has been so cute and funny and protective. This isn’t the same graveyard, his mom isn’t buried here. But the sickly feeling bubbles up in his throat anyways and he swallows hard.

He thinks he might have made a small noise, because he feels Lukas pulling him up alongside him, wrapping an arm tight around his shoulders. “You okay?” Lukas asks, softly. 

“You think it’s almost over?” Philip asks. The pain flashes in his eyes, the fear and worry and loneliness, the desperate sadness. It’s almost like he’s there. Back there, in that moment.

“Yes,” Lukas says, even though Philip is sure he doesn’t know that. Lukas looks around for a moment and squeezes Philip’s shoulder. “Look. There.”

Philip follows his finger. There’s a nice, pretty white gate a good ways away, the word EXIT weaved above it in red and pink roses. 

“Right there,” Lukas says. He leans in, tipping Philip’s hat a little bit when he kisses his temple. “So close.”

“You alright, Philip?” Zoe asks, rushing to catch up with them.

“It’s okay, it doesn’t even look that scary,” Diana says. “You’re okay, cowboy.”

Philip smiles a little to himself, looking over his shoulder at them. But when he does he sees it. He doesn’t like how it looks, on top of everything else his mind is doing, and his heart stutters. “Uh, uh—guys.”

“What is it?” Lukas asks, turning to look.

A man. Standing back in the shadows by the bushes, tall and menacing. And he’s holding something.

“Uh, bad,” Diana says. “Bad.”

“What’s he—”

They hear the rumble of the chainsaw. 

“Oh fuck, Jesus Christ, no,” Lukas says. 

They all four stand there for a minute as the lunatic revs the chainsaw again, and then they see him running, no, _sprinting_ out of the bushes and in their direction. They start backing up and Philip feels his eyes getting wider and wider, then Zoe starts to scream. 

“Run!” she yells. “Run if you want to live!”

They all turn and start to move, and once again Lukas wraps an arm around Philip’s waist and hauls him along with him. The chainsaw sounds like it’s getting closer and closer and they’re all shrieking wildly, not daring to look back at him for fear of seeing him right the fuck there behind them. 

“Oh shit, oh shit!”

“No, no, no! He’s coming!”

Philip keeps his eyes on the pretty gate, the exit written in roses, and they’re close now, they might make it now, the wind rushes by in his ears—he feels a hand on his back that definitely doesn’t belong to one of the girls and they sound like they’re screaming louder and the chainsaw is blaring, but Lukas yanks him away and practically carries him through the gate. 

They don’t stop running until they’re at least another twenty feet away and finally the chainsaw sound stops. 

“Oh my God,” Diana says, collapsing to the ground. “Holy shit. Holy shit.”

Zoe crawls over to her and collapses down next to her. “Fifty bucks each. We made that money. We earned that goddamn money.”

Philip is heaving, his breath coming fast, and he feels Lukas’s hand in his hair. Something occurs to him and his heart leaps. He reaches up, patting Lukas’s hand and the top of his own head. He looks at Lukas. “My hat,” Philip says. 

Lukas narrows his eyes. 

“I lost—I lost my hat,” Philip says, looking at Lukas’s own still snug on his head. 

The girls look over at them and both seem at a loss for words. 

Philip walks over so he can see inside the gate. He doesn’t hear the chainsaw, can only see the grass and all the graves.

And his hat, right there in the middle of it all. Way, way too far away.

“Fuck,” he says, looking at it. It looks so small from here. “I guess—I don’t know.”

“Stay right here.” Lukas leans in, kissing him on the cheek. “I’ll be right back,” he says. 

Philip’s heart lurches. “No, babe,” he says, grabbing onto Lukas’s arm. “It’s fine, I’ll come back tomorrow or something during the day—”

Lukas takes Philip’s hand and kisses his knuckles, letting him go without another word.

“Lukas,” Philip says. He knows he’s not in any real danger, that even if the chainsaw guy caught him he wouldn’t actually hurt him, but watching Lukas walk into a dark, creepy-ass graveyard that they just ran through doesn’t make Philip feel very good.

“Oh damn,” Zoe says, watching. She knocks Diana in the shoulder. “Honey, look.”

Philip’s heart is in his throat. Lukas is walking really slow and Philip doesn’t know if that’s the right tactic, but he watches him get farther and farther away. He finally reaches his destination, snatching Philip’s hat up into his hand.

Then they hear the chainsaw. 

“God, fuck,” Philip mutters. He sees Lukas mouth the word _shit_ , breaking into a run. “Come on, Lukas!” Philip yells, gripping his chest. “Come on baby!”

“Come on, Lukas, come on!” the girls chant. “Come on, come on.”

The guy is chasing him. He’s wearing a fucking Leatherface mask and Philip kinda feels like he’s gonna puke, watching Lukas get chased by him. He starts towards him and Lukas holds out his hands, shaking his head. 

“Come on,” Philip says, watching the guy get closer and closer. “Come on!”

He gets so close and Lukas yells, but then he crosses through the gate and the guy immediately backs up into the shadows, the chainsaw boiling down to silence. 

Lukas runs into Philip’s arms and Philip clings to him, burying his face in his neck.

“Got your hat,” Lukas says, holding it against Philip’s back. “Almost lost mine, but I—I got it.”

Philip laughs, shaking his head, holding him as tight as he can.

“Jesus,” Zoe says. “So gallant. Hun, would you have done that for me?”

“No. Way,” Diana says, and Philip can’t help but laugh.

~

Lukas and Philip are sitting together in the bath a little over an hour later, and Philip tightens Lukas’s arms around him. He never takes baths alone but he loves doing it with Lukas, especially when they’re both exhausted and don’t feel like standing in the shower. Or when they’ve been running from a homicidal chainsaw killer. Angela was horrified to hear of how scary it was, and reiterated how happy she was just to bring her dogs over and let them play with Izzy for a couple hours instead of going with the boys on what she calls their _hell journey._

“I feel like you should wear the hat in bed later,” Lukas says into Philip’s ear. “You know, that might be a good idea.”

“Babe I’ll wear whatever you want me to wear,” Philip says, smiling to himself. 

“And maybe we should watch, like—a romantic comedy or a cartoon or something,” Lukas says. “With all the lights on. Maybe we should put a bow in Izzy’s hair and take a bunch of pictures of her.”

Izzy is laying inside the bathroom by the door, and her tail thumps against the tile when she hears her name.

“You trying to wipe your mind of that place?” Philip asks.

“Yes,” Lukas says. “With nice things. Like the image of you riding me wearing that hat.”

Philip hums to himself, pushing back against him a little bit. “I mean, that’s only fair. After you were so—so gallant. So sexy. So protective.” Philip doesn’t think of the graveyard but he thinks about everything before that—how scared Lukas was but how Philip was always, consistently and without fail, his number one priority. 

He doesn’t want to think about it but it pops into his head—when Ryan Kane took them by surprise, in the old apartment. Lukas tried to protect him then too, tried to shield him with his body right away. But then Kane started threatening, took his gun out, could tell Philip was Lukas’s weakness—

“Hey,” Lukas whispers, kissing his cheek. He nuzzles his nose there, drawing his fingers back and forth against Philip’s stomach. “Hey. Come back to me.”

Philip closes his eyes and sighs, focusing on Lukas’s hands and his mouth, the feel of him. Nothing else. “Best part of that shit was meeting those girls,” Philip says. “I’m glad we exchanged numbers.”

“Me too,” Lukas says. “They were hilarious.”

“You were pretty funny too,” Philip says, smiling. 

Lukas scoffs. “Yeah, I’m trying to protect you with my big, strapping, attractive body and you’re fuckin’ laughing at me.”

Philip laughs again now, arching his neck back on Lukas’s shoulder. “Big, strapping, attractive body. Yeah, that’s you.”

“Maybe next year we’ll fly down to Orlando and go to Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween,” Lukas says, kissing his cheek again. “Feel like that’d be more enjoyable. They give out candy.”

“Mmm, I’d like that,” Philip says. “But tonight—romantic comedy and cowboy sex sounds perfect. Izzy photoshoot we can do in the morning. I need to prepare for her antics.”

Izzy grumbles a little bit but wags her tail again. 

“Happy Halloween,” Lukas whispers, biting at Philip’s neck.

Philip hums, his eyes falling closed. “You a vampire now?”

“Mmmhm.” Lukas sucks at his neck and Philip sighs, shifting to give him better access. 

“Alright,” Philip says, his breath starting to get fast. “Think we should head—head to bed.”

“Yes sir, Sheriff Shea, sir,” Lukas says. But then he stops, his mouth coming to a halt on Philip’s skin. “Oh—no. No, Helen is the sheriff.”

Philip snorts. “Lukas, just take me to bed.”

“Yes,” Lukas says, kissing his cheek, over and over. “Yes, that I can do.”

Philip knows he has a lot of hurt locked up in his head, and he doesn’t ever know when it’s gonna crop up, fall forward, try and blind him. 

But he’ll always have Lukas’s arms to fall into when it does.


End file.
